Rites by Priest Are Valid, by Bill Freehling, Free Lance-Star [Virginia], January 16, 2007

Rites by Priest Are Valid

By Bill Freehling
Free Lance-Star [Virginia]
January 16, 2007

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/012007/01162007/251164

Sacraments performed by a priest accused of stealing more than $600,000 from two churches in Louisa County remain valid, an attorney for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond says.

Diocese attorney William Etherington said the recent embezzlement charge against Rodney Lee Rodis doesn't affect parishioners who were married, baptized or confirmed by the now-suspended priest.

"You're not going to undo a wedding or baptism because the priest may be a sinner," Etherington said yesterday.

Rodney Rodis

Representatives from the Richmond diocese went to mass Sunday at St. Jude in Mineral and Immaculate Conception in Buckner to speak with parishioners in the wake of the news that Rodis had been charged with embezzlement and was living with a woman in Spotsylvania County.

Etherington said yesterday that it was the church's understanding that Rodis isn't married. He said Rodis would have been excommunicated had he been married.

Etherington said it's unclear how much time Rodis spent in the St. Jude rectory while he was pastor.

He said cases involving pastors seeking alternative living arrangements are taken up on a case-by-case basis. He said the Catholic Diocese of Richmond was unaware that Rodis may have been living in Spotsylvania.

Rodis, 50, was indicted Jan. 8 by a Louisa grand jury on one count of felony embezzlement. Etherington said he's accused of stealing about $600,000 from the two rural churches, and state police investigators believe it may be more.

Rodis, a native and citizen of the Philippines, spent 13 years at the two Louisa churches. He retired as pastor this past May, citing health concerns. Etherington said the priest has battled prostate cancer.

An investigation began in November after a parishioner who had donated $1,000 asked for a receipt for tax reasons. There was no record of the donation. Rodis is accused of embezzling that money and other checks donated to the church as far back as September 2001, state police say.

Etherington said Rodis is primarily suspected of embezzling funds from checks that were made out to the churches. He said that more than one person would have kept watch over collection-plate donations, but the priest had signing authority on checks.

Etherington said police are investigating Rodis' records at a Fredericksburg-area bank where some of the funds were apparently deposited. Rodis was arrested last Tuesday at a home on Watson Lane in the Sheraton Hills East subdivision in Spotsylvania County.

Online public records show Rodis lived at the home as far back as July 1994 with 44-year-old Joyce F. Sillador, who sometimes used Rodis' last name.

Three girls who neighbors estimate range from elementary-school age to college age also lived there. Neighbors said they assumed that Rodis and the woman were married, and the three girls were their daughters.

Rodis told a reporter with the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he wasn't married to Sillador; he did not comment as to whether any of the girls were his daughters. He told the reporter that Sillador knew he was a priest. Neighbors have said they didn't know that and believed Rodis was in the import-export business.

Neighbors said Rodis and Sillador had renovated the home--installing new hardwood floors, kitchen cabinets and appliances. They said Rodis traveled to his native Philippines and had parties that were catered. They figured he was doing well financially.

Rodis is currently free on a $10,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Louisa Circuit Court on Thursday morning; a trial date could be set at that time.

Etherington said the Richmond diocese hopes that restitution will be part of a possible criminal sentence. He said there could eventually be a civil suit against Rodis, at which the diocese would seek to seize any assets that Rodis obtained illegally.

It's possible that Rodis could be deported if found guilty. He is not a U.S. citizen and had to surrender his passport as part of the conditions of bond. He had been approved to stay in the U.S. through 2015 on a religious worker's visa, Etherington said.

To reach BILL FREEHLING: 540/374-5424 or Email: bfreehling@freelancestar.com